One striking characteristic is his supreme self-possession—an indispensable mark of the "superior man," according to Confucianism, the heavens might fall and the great Viceroy would not move a single muscle. The rigidity of his countenance and the fixity of his gaze reveal a severity that is rather surprising in one who has travelled so far and seen so much. Another characteristic is_the forbidding urbanity of his address. There is none of that suavity so common in China. He does not indulge in that flattery "one abhors the most," but he knows the "arrogance of propriety" and uses it with effect. Another characteristic is his Scotch custom of answering one question by asking another. He is an adept in interrogation, and is willing to receive but not to impart information, If all mandarins adopted the same Socratic method the general intelligence of the officials would immensely improve, He is decidedly of opinion that any large transference by the Americans of their shares in the Hankow-Canton—Railway—Concession, would be a distinct breach of faith. Asked as to the relation now existing between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor, he affirmed that it was simply a case mutual help. As to indemnities China can pay pay pay if only she be allowed to increase the import tariff and be able to secure a foreign loan on reasonable terms. The cure for the missionary trou-blo is to cense missionary effort, but since that is impossible the next best thing to guarantee future harmony is for the missionaries to totally discontinue any interference with the civil affairs and the litigation cases of their converts. There is not, he thinks, any reason for fearing that China will not be able to hold her own and maintain her integrity. Reform will be slowly but surely begin. It will not be possible to utilise her natural resources for some decades yet, because China has not either the mener the means necessary for such an enterprise.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.